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The Deco / Protest study, to be published in the December issue of the Health Test, examined the prices of 25 drugs for pain, cough, allergies, nasal obstruction and flu .
Between July and September 2018, Deco collected the prices of over-the-counter medicines whose active substances are among the most sold in Portugal, obtaining 8,286 prices in pharmacies (including online), hypermarkets and parapharmacies.
All 25 drugs studied cost on average 152 euros in supermarkets, 170 in drugstores and 173 in pharmacies, with 21 euros the difference in average price between pharmacies and hypermarkets.
Price increase in hypermarkets
The results show that these "are cheaper in hypermarket health areas, which is the case since 2007", when Deco conducted the second study because no difference was recorded in the first. "However, the difference compared to pharmacies and other licensed outlets has been reduced due to the higher price rise in hypermarkets," said the study's findings, to which the agency Lusa had access.
Pharmacies have the highest price variation for the same drug and in many cases the lowest and highest values are found in pharmacies, he notes.
In hypermarkets, the lowest average price belongs to the Auchan (Jumbo) group, where the sample costs 4% less than the average of the other establishments. Pingo Doce did not enter the race because he did not provide data for the 25 drugs. In El Corte Inglés, they cost 2% more and in Wells (mainland) 3% more, said the study.
Deco began to analyze the price of these drugs in 2006, a year after licensing outside pharmacies. That year, the prices of the five best-selling drugs in pharmacies and other outlets were not very different.
For 12 years, this average gap has varied, remaining at 10% over the past two years. Since 2006, five drugs have been among the top selling products: Canesten Cream 10mg, Cégripe 500mg, Fenistil Gel 1mg, Ilvico N and Trifene 200.
Five drugs in the sample
Of the five drugs that remained in the sample, Ilvico N, an influenza, was the one who had the largest real increase (corrected for inflation), currently costing an average of 2.86 euros per package more than 12 years ago. The Daflon 500 has the biggest absolute difference between the minimum price (16.95 euros) and the maximum (21.95 euros), both in pharmacy.
The study finds that the average cost of drugs is cheaper in the district of Castelo Branco, while in the districts of Évora and Guarda, all drugs cost on average 175 euros.
The total volume of over-the-counter sales is currently 80% of the pharmacy market share, down 13% from 2007.
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